He composed scores for a number of ballets, including two of the most popular of the time: “Agnes DeMille’s Rodeo” (1942) and Martha Graham’s “Appalachian Spring” (1944), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. Probably the most important and successful composition from this time was his patriotic “A Lincoln Portrait” (1942). The piece for voice and orchestra presents quotes from Lincoln’s writings narrated over Copland’s musical composition. Throughout the 1950s, Copland slowed his work as a composer, and began to try his hand at conducting. He began to tour with his own work as well as the works of other great American musicians.
In 1975, Harrison met Ki K.P.H. Wasitodiningrat, familiarly known as Pak Cokro, one of the great masters of the Javanese gamelan orchestra in that century. Pak Cokro not only instructed him in the performance and theory of gamelan music, but also encouraged him to compose for the ensemble. Over the next ten years, Harrison would produce a remarkable body of nearly 50 pieces for gamelan, often in combinations with Western instruments, such as Philemon and Baukis (violin and gamelan), Main Bersama-sama (horn and Sundanese gamelan), and Bubaran Robert (trumpet and gamelan). He and Colvig built various sets of gamelan instruments, including ensembles at colleges where Harrison taught at various times--Mills College, San Jose State University, and Cabrillo College.
Music, dance and story telling are among the forms of art that have been kept century after century in Africa. Everyday life activities in traditional Africa included music and many other cultural experiences. Music and dance were traditions that characterized an African musical expression and played an important role in the lives of the people.The traditional music of Africa possessed a distinguishing feature of rhythmic complexity like no other continent. Music was highly functional in ethnic life, accompanying birth, marriage, hunting and even political activities.Before the 20th century, music was very different when compared to the 21st century music. Special occasions owned a distinctive type of African music.
Music must express emotions and it must move the listener. It gives the listener feeling of the music. Baroque music has unique specific style and character and it is an idiomatic form. Composers began to write music specifically for a particular medium, such as the violin or the solo voice, rather than music with interchangeable. Before 1600, as the church had been the centre of music, vocal music had been dominating, and the instrumental music had been written for any instrument.
However, as important as it was, improvisation caused problems when musicians attempted to understand and perform Baroque music accurately. Basso continuo, or figured bass, was purely an instrumental concept. It is music that is played by one or more bass instruments and a keyboard instrument. Basso continuo gave bass parts an importance of their own in all areas of ensemble music. It is one of the most distinct features of the Baroque Era as a whole.
Hu Zhenqi 24 June 2011 MRLC Mr.Ryan HOW BACH’S STYLE IS DISTINCT FROM VIVALDI’S Bach and Vivaldi are two of the most well known composers in the Baroque period. They have similarities and differences in their style of composition. This essay would focus on their differences in style. Their styles are different in many ways and most people would focus on their use of melody, harmony or rhythm but this essay would focus on their use of basso continuo. The way Bach uses basso continuo in his music is what makes Bach’s style distinct from Vivaldi’s.
The Rite of Spring is considered a piece that changed about everything there was to know about music. Igor Stravinsky’s methods of composing The Rite of Spring were previously unheard of. For example, the piece begins with a bassoon solo in its highest register (Ewen 788 “20th Century Music”). The solo is notorious because when played it sounds more like an oboe than a bassoon due to the way it was written. The solo has been noted to cause the famous
Cultures who used these instrument pairs associated genders with them; the "father" was the bigger or more energetic instrument, while the "mother" was the smaller or duller instrument. Musical instruments existed in this form for thousands of years before patterns of three or more tones would evolve in the form of the earliest xylophone. [24] Xylophones originated in the mainland and archipelago of Southeast Asia, eventually spreading to Africa, the Americas, and Europe. [25] Along with xylophones, which ranged from simple sets of three "leg bars" to carefully tuned sets of parallel bars, various cultures developed instruments such as the ground harp, ground zither, musical bow, and jaw
Songs were often played to accompany poems and plays. The music would represent the mood of the play, and musicians would sit in a gallery above the stage. Music to be in the court was very popular. Composers would often write a piece in the name of a nobleman, and then give it to them as a gift. Others would try to catch the eye of the Queen, who was always on the hunt for new music.
They were also delivering messages in musical code. There was the public transcript and the hidden transcript. In the face of domination, subordinate people must wear masks to conceal their true thoughts and identities. Although, music has its own distinctive language. There is a language of musical sounds as well as a language of musical elements.